Guests and Panels of GottaCon 2013

GottaCon is please to present the following guests who will appear and be speaking at our upcoming February 1st to 3rd, 2013 convention. Following the information on our guests please find our discussion panels descriptions.

Guests of GottaCon 2013

Alyx Dellamonica – Guest of Honour

A.M. Dellamonica’s first novel, urban fantasy INDIGO SPRINGS, won the 2010 Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic; a sequel, BLUE MAGIC, was released by Tor in 2012. She has published short fiction in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Strange Horizons, TOR.COM and over thirty other magazines and anthologies. (Her most recent short is “Wild Things.”) A resident of Vancouver, British Columbia, Dellamonica teaches writing through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.

Standard Action (Season 2 Screening & Q&A)

Standard Action is a comedy-fantasy webseries inspired by table-top roleplaying and video games, and filled with enough nerdy pop culture references to keep everyone from the Tolkein fan to the Trekkie to the Browncoat entertained. The story follows four bumbling, inept adventurers – Edda the Elf Barbarian, Martin the Druid, Gwenevere the Sorcerer, and Fernando the Half-Halfling Bard. Outcast from their parties and not quite epic enough to find new ones, the four adventurers find each other, and embark on a chaotic quest that will test not only their fellowship, but everyone’s ideas of what a hero should be.
Standard Action’s first season of 14 episodes gained critical acclaim for its beautiful art, costumes and cinematography; its quirky characters and intelligent writing; its fantastic monsters; and the high calibre of its acting. And now they’re back for Season 2!

Project London (Screening)

Nebraska Higgins plunges into a world of struggle and intrigue after Joint Command kills his father, Arizona, a hero known by his large robotic exo-suit. Jerry, Benin Belabora, and Xing Xing Fix try to keep Nebraska safe from the pursuing Joint Command whilst trying to recruit him to the London Underground. Can Nebraska deal with the loss of his father as calamities threaten to destroy the
world around him? Earth’s fate depends on the potential in a young man’s heart.
Project London is an independent, live action movie with 774 vivid visual effects and animations created with the open source software. Starring Josh Truax and Jen Page.

Philip Amor

Philip Amor has been in the Vancouver and Victoria cosplay and anime convention scene since 2007. He recently got into My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic in early 2011. His only pony cosplay so far has been a male genderbent “Pinkie Pie” Guy, but future plans include Vinyl Scratch, King Sombra, and other Pinkie Pie Variations. His passions involve acting, singing, and being spontaneous. If you haven’t guessed, his favourite pony is Pinkie Pie. He spends his gamer life playing League of Legends, Magic the Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons, and other various video games.

Ken Atkinson

Ken Atkinson has been writing stories for the vast majority of his life. It’s his dream to make it as an author, but anyone with internet access or a fondness for literature can tell you, that’s a rather impractical goal. So, it’s his intent to supplant that with another low-paying art career: graphic design. Hopefully, two starvation-inducing incomes combined will equal one mediocre income. As it stands, his work in both categories is still purely recreational. Nearly a year ago, however, Ken was introduced to ponies. He very quickly fell in love with the characters and the universe, and it was a matter of days before he began to wonder what would happen if he took his fairly dark style and superimposed it over Equestria.

Tessa Burger

Tessa Burger is a student of Spectrum High. She enjoys puzzle games and MMORPGs like Guild Wars and World of Warcraft. Tessa is an avid ‘pegasister’, who helps in organization of the Victoria Bronies.

Dave Duncan

Dave Duncan is originally from Scotland, Dave Duncan has lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds are more satisfying than the real one, he has published more than forty novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical. He has at times been Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for “D’ye Ken Whodunit?”). His most successful works have been fantasy series: “The Seventh Sword”, “A Man of His Word” and its sequel, “A Handful of Men”, and six books about “The King’s Blades”.
He and Janet were married in 1959. They have one son and two daughters, who in turn are responsible for a spinoff series of four grandchildren. Dave now lives in Victoria, BC.

Alex Flagg

Alex Flagg is a writer, designer, and 10-year veteran of the games industry, having started in video games and later returned to analog gaming with AEG’s Spycraft. In 2005, he formed Crafty Games with co-designer Patrick Kapera, and the rest, as they say, is history. Since forming Crafty Games, Alex has written and designed over 75 games and supplements, including the Origins and ENnie Award-nominated Spycraft 2.0 and Fantasy Craft RPGs. His most recent work is the Mistborn Adventure Game, based on the New York Times bestselling fantasy series by Wheel of Time author Brandon Sanderson.

Joanna Gaskell

Joanna Gaskell is an actor, writer, producer & voiceover artist, originally from Victoria, trained in London (UK), & working in Vancouver since 2008. She has gained recognition for her writing, acting, & production work on multiple-award-winning webseries Standard Action, a comedy-fantasy series inspired by tabletop roleplaying, video games, & geeky pop culture. She has been spotted at conventions around North America on panels discussing Standard Action, the rise of new media, & the prominent, evolving role of women in webseries.

Matthew Hughes

Matthew Hughes writes science-fantasy. His alter ego, Matt Hughes, writes crime fiction. A personality fragment, Hugh Matthews, writes media tie-ins. Formerly a journalist, he was staff speechwriter to the Canadian Ministers of Justice & Environment in the Trudeau government of 74-79, then spent more than 25 years as a speechwriter for corporate executives & political leaders. At present, he is seeing the world & writing. He has won the Arthur Ellis Award, & has been short-listed for the Aurora, Nebula, Philip K Dick, & Derringer Awards.

Karl Johanson has done game design and testing on close to 200 computer games, for Sanctuary Woods Multimedia, Disney Interactive and North Star Games. Karl is the editor and science writer for Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine, which has won 2 Aurora Awards, and a former co-editor of Under the Ozone Hole, which won 4 Aurora Awards. Karl has had articles and fiction published in On Spec magazine, Here Be Monsters, Sci Phi Journal, Stiches: the Magazine of Medical Humour and other publications. Karl has been a speaker at dozens of conventions, including Worldcons, Westercons & World Fantasy Con, often talking about trends in the gaming industry. He’s happy to participate on Gottacon’s programming.

Douglas Lloyd

Douglas Lloyd is a part time writer of short stories and RPG adventures. Originally from Burnaby, Douglas currently lives in the Fraser Valley where he play-tests game adventures at a local coffee shop. Douglas divides his creative time between writing, play-testing and gaming. He has routinely visits the hobby stores in the Greater Vancouver Area. Douglas also enjoys the outdoors; he finds that hiking and walking are a great source of inspiration for many of the short stories he writes.
His first adventure ‘Where is My Spellbook?’ was published in 2010 by Blackbyrne Publishing, a licensed third party publisher of Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder RPGs. He is also a contributing writer in their Age of Lords Campaign Setting and Expedition Guide.

Nicole Matthews

Nicole Matthews entered the MLP community at the young age of 4 when she received her first pony toy. Flash forward to when she was 13 and doing repaints of Ponyville toys, sometime around 9th grade, she dropped her ponies and took up anime and cosplay. She entered the brony community in early 2011 and by February 2012 she had completed her Rainbow Dash cosplay. Since this debut, she has travelled to many conventions teaching others how to cosplay ponies. Currently she is an active member of the Victoria Bronies.

Chris Pramas

Chris Pramas is an award-winning game designer, writer, & publisher. He is best known as the designer of the Dragon Age RPG & Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 2nd Edition, & as the founder and President of Green Ronin Publishing. He has been a creative director at Wizards of the Coast, Flying Lab Software, & was the lead writer on Vigil Games’ Warhammer 40K MMO. Green Ronin continues to thrive under his leadership, publishing games like Mutants & Masterminds, DC Adventures, & A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying.

Steve Saunders

Steve Saunders has worked professionally in the comic book and print publishing industries for years. He’s done everything from scripting, editing, native language adaptation (read: rewriting translated scripts so they appeal to English speakers), translation (ja!), marketing, comic book industry “journalism” and simply collecting a paycheck whilst wondering what the heck was going on. He’s done other things, too– but we don’t talk about that. Steve has been playing and running RPGs since the mid-80s, which means he’s getting old. Shhhh! So don’t mention the “old” thing to him, okay? His interests include board games, videogames, role-playing games, books, comic books, military history and long walks on the beach… with chainsaws. He also likes gnomish dire weasels. A lot.

Eric Seaton

Eric has lived in Victoria since 1990, and has been the owner of Crosstime Games of BC since 2001. He has written and published his own role playing system, Elemental Axes, which is currently in its second edition, and is currently working on a storytelling game titled Axes of the Heavens. When not writing, he divides his time between his girlfriend, his jobs, and his cat (not always in that order). Occasional additions to this hectic schedule include sleep, reading, and badly-played games of Starcraft 2.

Jules Sherred

Jules Sherred does way more than should be legal. Most notably, she is the General Manager and Programming Director of The Look 24/7, host of the Geeky Pleasures Radio Show and the offshoot website, Geeky Pleasures, and core contributor to Wired’s GeekMom. She’s already written two non-fiction books to help raise lupus awareness, and is working on another book called Nerd Love. Recently, Jules published Five Little Zombies and Fred, and is excited that it is a real thing for people to hold, read, and love.
On the Geeky Pleasures Radio Show, Jules has had the pleasure of having conversations with Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm, the 7th Doctor Silvester McCoy, BSGs Richard Hatch, Blakes`s 7 Paul Darrow, Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, and many others. Jules is very happy to bring many years of experience working in the geek entertainment industry to GottaCon. Also, SHE LOVES STAR TREK.

Alison Schuss

Alison Schuss has been gaming ever since grade 3 when her mom bought her a red game boy SP that came with pokemon ruby. She`s been a brony since last year and she loves it! Alison also loves band.

Panels of GottaCon 2013

The Influence of D&D

Day: Saturday
Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm
Panelists: Alex Flagg, Douglas Lloyd, Joanna Gaskell, Chris Pramas
D&D has influenced not only tabletop RPGs, but also video games, television, web series, and more. Join us as we discuss how D&D has grown from a game that was once frowned upon, to one that influences many aspects of both geek and popular culture, and how it has influenced the lives of individuals.

So You Want to Become a Published Author

Day: Saturday
Time: 12:00 pm to 2:00pm
Panelists: Alyx Dellamonica, T.J. Silver, Dave Duncan, Matt Hughes
If you are an author who is trying to get your science fiction or fantasy book published, this panel will explore all aspects of getting published. From writing a manuscript; to finding an agent – or even if that is necessary; to shopping your book; to what to expect if your book is picked up by a publisher; and how to deal with rejection, these authors will talk about the ins and outs of the publishing business, and explore the variety of options and tools available.

Digital Rights Management: The Pros and Cons

Day: Saturday
Time: 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Panelists: Karl Johanson, Alyx Dellaconica, Jules Sherred
Digital Rights Management or DRM is becoming a largely debated topic. With both sides of the debate weighing in on this topic, this panel will explore what exactly is DRM; the pros and the cons; why some companies cling on to it, while others have let it go; how it effects people’s purchasing decisions; ask questions such as, “Does DRM only serve to harm the legitimate consumer?” and, “Are there any situations where DRM is not a bad thing?”, and more.

Standard Action: Exclusive Showing and Q&A

Day: Saturday
Time: 6:45pm to 8:45pm
Panelists: Joanna Gaskell, Rob Hunt, and three other members of the Standard Action cast and crew.
Join the Standard Action crew and be the first to view one of the episodes of Season 2 of this award winning web series. After you become the first to view this exclusive screening, the cast and crew of Standard Action will take your questions, talk about their process and their experiences in the making of their show and giving you some of their ideas as to what’s coming next. Standard Action is one of the best-looking webseries on the net right now – come meet the team that made it happen, and find out what makes them different!

RPG Improv with Standard Action & Friends

Day: Saturday
Time: 9:15pm to 11:00pm
Panelists: Joanna Gaskell, Rob Hunt, Edwin Perez, Eric Fell
Always wanted to learn how to play a role-playing game (RPG) but were afraid to ask? Just want to celebrate the awesomeness that is RPGing with a room full of people who love it as much as you do? Come to RPG Improv! The cast and crew of Standard Action is hosting a live Pathfinder game, on-stage, featuring all the humor and chaos that dice rolling and table-top roleplay has to offer. And it’s interactive! Put in your two cents to influence the direction of the game, and see what happens to the characters as a result. See you there!

GM Roundtable: Enhanced Storytelling

Day: Sunday
Time: 10:00am to 12:00 pm(noon)
Panelists: Alex Flagg, Douglas Lloyd, Eric Seaton, Steve Saunders
Join these GMs as they discuss ways to turn a game from simple words on a page, into an immersive world – LARPing without leaving the table. How can the use of props, miniatures, music, battle mats, costumes, voices, and more enhance the game-play experience? How do you weigh time preparing vs. reward? When do you stop using tools to enhance storytelling and when do you leave the story to the players imaginations?

Film Screening: Project London

Day: Sunday
Time: Noon to 2:00pm
Project London is an independent, live action movie with 774 vivid visual effects and animations created with the open source software.
Nebraska Higgins plunges into a world of struggle and intrigue after Joint Command kills his father, Arizona, a hero known by his large robotic exo-suit.

“Unusual” Fandoms: Bronies

Day: Sunday
Time: 2:30pm to 4:30pm
Panelists: Nicole Matthews, Tessa Burger, Alison Schuss, Philip Amor, Ken Atkinson
Join us as we discuss an often misunderstood, and largely criticized, aspect of fandom: Bronies. What is a Brony and Pegasister? Why does a cartoon, often seen as something only for little girls, have such a strong fan base among men, with the average age of the male fan at 21-years-old? We will attempt to dispel some of the myths about Bronies, and try to create a conversation about how we, as a geek community, can better support this area of fandom.

As you can see we have a fantastic line-up of guests and a diverse selection of panels!! We hope you see something that interests you and that you have a chance to take part in at least one of these events!